Electric regulation.



J. L. CREVELiNG. ELECTRIC REGULATION. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 14. mo.

Patented Apr. 4,1916.

WITNESSES.

'1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN L. CREVELING, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO SAFETY CAR HEATING AND LIGHTING COMPANY. A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

ELECTRIC REGULATION. I

Specification of Letters Ifatent.

Application filed June 14, 1910. Serial No. 566,778.

. a resident of New York, in the county and .automatically govern an electric State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Regulation, as set forth in the annexed specification and drawing, forminga part thereof.

My invention pertains to that class of electric regulation in which it is desired to circuit in a redetermined manner.

'[v invention has for its particular object to provide means whereby the voltage upon a circuit, or the current in a circuit, may be automatically governed in such manner as to be held constant throughout wide changes which may take place at the source from which said circuit is fed or throughout changes in'load.

A further object of my invention is to provide a means capable of performing these functions quickly and precisely without the necessity of delicate and complicated mechanism.

As my invention is particularly applicable to a system wherein a generator is used to charge a storage battery and operate lamps or other translating devices in which it is desired to hold a constant voltage upon the lamps or translating devices, it will be described with reference to such a system.

In the drawing Figure I is a diagrammatic view of one type of such a system employing my invention. Fig. IIjis an elevation of therelay or pilot 33 indicated in Fig. I.

In the drawing 1 represents a dynamo or generator from which the positive. lead 2 is carried to the storage battery 3 and one side of the lamps or translating devices 4.

The other side of the translating. devices 4 is connected with the main 5 which is carried to the regulator 6 from which return is made by lead 7 to one side of the storage battery 3 and generator 1. The current, in passing through the regulator 6, may be considered as entering the conducting member 8 carried upon a suitable backboard or base 9 made of wood or other insulating material.

Against the conducting member 8 there is placed a series of carbon disks 10 which may be held in place as by insulating rods 11. The conducting member or disk 12 is placed against the last carbon disk so as to form contact therewith and is carried by the insulating bushing 13 engaging the screw 14 carried by the arm 15 attached to the movable armature 16 which is held in place by the rod 17 of brass or other non-magnetic material and free to slide thereon. The rod 17 is fitted into the magnet frame 18 carried by the base plate 9 as by means of screw 19,

20 represents a spiral spring tending to move-the armature 16 away from the frame or core 18 and the limit of travel which the spring may give the said armature may be governed as by the nuts 21 upon the rod 17.

' The conducting member 12 is connected as by wire22 with the conducting member 23 mechanically connected with the armature 16 as above described with referenceto the member 12. The member 23 is in contact with one end of a series of carbon disks 24, the other-end of which makes contact with the conducting member 25 which is in communicationwith the lead 7. The twoseries of carbon disks 10 and 24 constitute current varying means in the nature of a variable resistance.

26 represents a winding, one end of which is connected withvthe main 5 as by wire 27 and the other end of which is connected with the lead 2 as by wire 28 and resistance 29, and it will be obvious that energization of this winding will tend to attract the arma- Patented Apr. 4:, 1916.

ture 16 so as to compress the series of carbon 30 represents a winding upon the 'frame 18 having one of its ends connected with the wire 27 as by means of wire 31 and the other end connected as by means of wire 32 with the relay or pilot 33 as will herein after be explained and from which return is made to the wire 28 as by wire 34. This relay 33 is provided with a series of carbon piles 35. one end of each of which is in contact with the conducting members 36 ca'r'-.

ried by screws 37 passing through the base orframe of wood or other insulating mate rial indicated at 38. The other end of each of the carbon piles makes contact with the conducting members 39 carried as by conducting screws or members 40 fitted into insulating bushings 41 carried by the arms 42 of the diaphragm or armature of magnetic material-43 which is suspended or flexibly held in place as by means of leaf springs 44 carried upon the posts 45. In practice I use a considerable number, for example, six piles of .carbon disks 35 which may be arranged either in series or in multiple according to the work the relay is to perform. A the method of connecting the various piles of disks together is obvious to one skilled in the art, one pile thereof only is shown in Fig. I for the sake of simplicity and this pile connected in series with the wires 32 and 34 so as to govern the current flowing through the said wires and the winding 30 which current is shunted away from the winding 26 and, of course, weakens the same owing to the action of resistance 29. The winding 30 moreover is wound in a reverse direction to the winding 26 so that the current. shunted away from the winding 26 through the winding 30 is differential and opposes the magneto-motive force of the; winding 26 and, therefore,

weakens the effect thereof and relieves pressure upon the armature 16 and the piles of carbon disks 10 and 24. Therefore, the resistance of said disks will be caused to vary by variations in pressure of the carbon disks 35 of the relay 33.

46 represents a spring adjustable as'by the screw 47 carried by the bracket 48 and which normally -tends to move the armature 43 in a right-handed direction so as to lessen.

the pressure upon the carbon piles 35.

49 is a bracket secured to the base 38 and provided with an opening to receive the screw 50 carried by the magnet frame 53 and adjustable against the action of spring 52 as by the nut 51. The magnet core or frame 53 passes through the base 38 so that it may closely approach the armature 43 and have the air gap between 53 and 43 adjusted by manipulation of the nut 51. The core 53 is provided with a winding 54 which is placed in communication with the circuit to be governed and as the voltage upon the translation circuit is to be held constant in this case I provide the magnet core or frame 53 with a fine shunt winding in shunt across the translation circuit through wires 55 and 56.

The operation of my improved system is substantially as follows: If we consider the generator as operating with its voltage sufficient to charge the battery, current will flow through the battery in an obvious manner and to the lamps or translating devices and return to the generator from the lamps or translating devices through the main 5, pile of carbon disks 10, wire 22, pile of carbon disks 24 and lead 7. Therefore, the voltage upon the lamps or translating devices will depend upon the resistance of the piles of carbon disks 10 and 24 which in turn will depend upon the pressure exerted upon the same by the magnet 18-26 attracting the armature 16. Current will flow from the lead 2 through resistance 29, wire 28, winding 26 and wire 27 to the main 5 andthus energize the electromagnet 18-26 and attract the armature l6 and tend to decrease the resistance 24 to a minimum. Current will also tend to flow from the wire 28 through wire 34, carbon disks 35, wire 32, winding 30 and wire 31 to wire 27 and it will be obvious that this current will depend upon the resistance of the carbon piles 35 which in turn will depend upon the pressure to which they are subjected. This current shunted away through the winding 30 will weaken the current in the winding 26 and cause this winding to exert less pressure upon the piles of carbon disks 10 and 24, and this current passing through the winding 30 in a direction opposed to that in the winding 26 will tend to set up an opposing or differential magneto-motive force and thereby further weaken the effect of the winding 26 and further increase the resistance of the piles of carbon disks 10 and 24 so that the resistance thereof imposed upon the translation circuit will depend upon the pressure applied to the carbon disks 35.

The current flowing from the translation circuit through wires 55 and 56 and winding 54 will energize the magnet 5453 and cause the same to tend to move the armature 43 in a left-handed direction and increase the pressure upon the carbon disks 35 so as to decrease the resistance thereof and increase the current shunted away from the winding 26 and sent through the reverse winding 30 so as to increase the resistance in the translation circuit. The spring 46 tends to move the armature 43 in such manner as to. decrease the pressure upon the carbon disks 35 and thus increase the resistance thereof and in that manner decrease the resistance of the piles of carbon disks 10 and 24 in the. translation circuit. Therefore, if the winding 54 and the spring 46 be properly designed and if the air gap between the magnet 5453 and the armature'43 and the spring 46 be properly adjusted and the regulator 6 be properly constructed for the work to be performed and its elements properly proportioned for the circuits it is to govern and for the governing effect upon it of the relay 33; the voltage upon the translation circuit may be held constant within a very narrow margin; for, if the voltage rise above the normal, the armature 43 will be attracted so as to increase the pressure upon the carbon disks 35 and reduce the resistance thereof so as to cause the resistance of the piles of carbon disks 10 and 24 to be raised and the voltage upon the translation circuit brou ht down to the normal. If the voltage fall elow the normal the spring 46 will cause the pressure upon the carbon piles 35 to be lessened and their resistance raised so as to increase the pressure upon the piles of carbon disks 10 and 24 and lower the resistance thereof and thus tend to bring the voltage upon the translation circuit back to' n'ormal. By dividing the carbon disksu'sed in the relay 33 up into a group of considerable in number and of short length, I produce substantially the same change in resistance with very slight travel of the armature 43 as would be produced in onesuch pile of considerable length with a considerable travel. In other words, the entire range of operative resistance variation may be accomplished by very slight movement of the out its operative range with very slight dis- 1 placement of any of the moving parts which are in almost the same position at the two limits of operation of said relay.

Further, I provide means for suspending the moving parts and holding the same in operative po-.

' sition which have practically no inertia or frictional resistance and by using a light armature or diaphragh 43 the entire moving parts of the relay are made to have very, little inertia and thus very quick to operate and having practically no momentum do not tend to travel when pulled in one direction or the other after the force moving the same has ceased. In other words the'individual resistances are of low value, but combined as described, may be of high value, and by reason of the arrangement shown may be raised and lowered in value upon slight changes or variations in current and within very narrow limits of movement of the armature 43. In consequence, the movable part of the relay can be made exceedingly light and arranged inclose operative relation to the magnet frame 53, so that the action of the relayis, in eflect, that of a microphone of the most delicate nature, which will respond to the minutest possible currentchanges in the circuit. Therefore, the tendency to hunt,

so' common in this type of apparatus, is-

overcome without the use of dash-pots or other retarding means, as the moving parts of therelay are-capable of such rapid and precise movement as to substantially follow any changes in voltage fluctuations taking place across the circuit to be governed.

' As the type of regulator which I have shown as indicated at 6 is also avery quick operating device-in fact, capable of almost voltage.

instantaneous operation, find that these two devices as indicated in the drawing are capable 'of working together without exterior retarding means and without any of the difiiculties due to hunting when subected to rapid and wide fluctuations in This is largely due to the fact that in the relay or pilot I have chosen such to have as near as possible these same characteristics and the, action thereof becomes almost instantaneous in following the variations' in the circuit to be governed and the a regulator becomes almost instantaneous in following-the action of said relay and these two instrumentalities do not get out of step, so to speak, and tend to hunt as is common in this type of apparatus. As there is very little travel to the armature 43 I am able to make the air gap between the same and the electromagnet 5354 quite small so that slight changes in the current flowing in the winding 54 cause considerable changes in pull upon the armature 43.in fact, many times what they would across a long air gap and by properly adjusting the air gap I can cause the pressure exerted upon the carbon disks 35 to increase per unit of change of current in the winding 54 due to diminution of the air gap as the armature approaches the magnet and thus to a desired extent overcome the property of the carbon disks 35 of requiring more pressure per unit of change in their resistance as the pressure. upon the same increases.

- It will be obvious that my invention may be used for the control of current rather than voltage by substituting for the voltage winding 54 a current coil in series with the circuit to be governed in an obvious-manner.

I donot wish in any way to limit myself to the exact details of construction shown in the accompanying drawing which is merely a diagrammatic representation of one type of system embodying my invention for it is obvious that wide changes may be made and still be within the scope of said invention.

Having thus described my invention that which I consider novel and desire to protect by Letters Patent is as set forth in the following claims:

1. The combination with a translation circuit and means for supplying current magnetic means for operating said regulator; and means for controlling said electromagnetic means comprising a pressure varied resistance, connected in shunt to said electromagnetic means, and means acting to apply pressure directly thereupon, including an electromagnet, and an armature suspended in operative relation to the said magnet across a small air gap, whereby pressure exerted upon said armature is directly transmitted to said resistance.

3. The combination with a translation circuit and means for supplying current thereto; of a regulator for said circuit; electromagnetic means for operating said regulator; and means for controlling said electromagnetic meanscomprising a pressure varied resistance, electromagnetic means acting to apply pressure directly thereupon across a relatively small air gap, including an electromagnet, an armature movably supported in operative relation thereto, yielding means opposing the action of said electromagnet, leads connecting the resistance in shunt to said regulator operating means, and leads connecting the pressure applying electromagnetic means across the circuit.

4. The combination with a translation circuit and means for supplying current thereto; of a regulatorfor said circuit; electromagnetic means connected across the circuit ior operating said regulator; and controlling means for the electromagnetic means comprising a pressure varied resistance, and other electromagnetic means connected across said circuit associated with an armature acting across a small air gap for raising or lowering the value of said pressure varied resistance, the latter being connected in shunt to the first named electromagnetic operating means; said controlling means also including means for opposing the said electromagnetic operating means in the control of the regulator.

5. The combination with a translation circuit and means for supplying current thereto; of a series regulator for the circuit comprising a variable resistance; means connected across the circuit for operating the regulator; and cooperating means in shunt to the last named means for raising or lowering the value of the said resistance;and a relay for controlling the operation of the said regulator comprising a resistance in circuit with said cooperating means; and means for varying the action of said lastnamed resistance including a coil connected across a restricted air gap.

4 6. The combination with a translation circuit and means for supplying current thereto ;-of a resistance in series in the circuit; electromagnetic means for controlling the operation of the resistance; and a relay comprising a resistance and a coil in shunt with across the circuit, and an armature acting said electromagnetic means; and independent circuits, the one being operated in response to conditions in the translation circuit, and the other acting to modify the effect of the controlling means, one of said circuits including magnetic means and an armature acting across a smallair gap.

7. The combination with a translation circuit and means for supplying current there- 7 to; of a regulator for the circuit comprising a resistance the value of which is alterable according to conditions in the circuit, and means for controlling the operation of said resistance comprising a plurality of low value resistances in series, and means for varying the value of the latter simultaneously and proportionally, comprising an electromagnet connected. across the circuit.

8. The combination with a translation cir- I cuit and means for supplying current thereto; of a regulator for the circuit comprising a variable resistance and electromagnetic means for altering the value of said resistance; and a controller for said regulator comprising a plurality of variable resistances of comparatively low value arranged in series with each other and in shunt to the regulator varying means, and electromagnetic means for altering the value of the latter resistances proportionally and simultaneously, according to conditions in the circuit.

9. The combination with a translation circuit and means for supplying current thereto; of a regulator for said circuit responsive to conditions therein; and a controller for the regulating means comprising a plurality of resistances of lowv value arranged in seto said regulator; and means for Varying the sistances to simultaneously and quickly alter value of said series resistances upon slight the value thereof.

changes or variations in conditions in the JOHN CREVELING circuit, including a coil connected across the f circuit; an armature in cooperative relation WVitnesses:

to the coil, said armature having a plurality M. HERSKOWITZ, of means for cooperating with the series re- Gr. l lAnn 

